Akagami no Shirayukihime Episode 9 Recap & Thoughts

I expected a lot more out of this week’s episode of Akagami no Shirayuki. For one thing, an inebriated Shirayuki could have opened up a vast number of possibilities for couple moments both sweet and comedic. A huge part of the episode focused on slowing down every day palace life to an almost listless rhythm. Things are at a standstill for Shirayuki and Zen since the rumours that they’re engaged and we haven’t gotten much of Shirayuki’s perspective on the entire ordeal since episode seven due to the fact that we’ve mostly focused on Zen’s back story and his personal struggles as a prince. While Zen is recovering from his personal flashback with his childhood past, Obi has been tasked with monitoring the inebriated Shirayuki who is spouting things from horse-riding to Mitsuhide big brothers and even random confessions about her frustrations regarding the court rumours.

Obi catches a troublemaker who snuck into the palace to monitor Shirayuki. It seems that as fixated as Shirayuki is on her own ideals and dreams, she still hasn’t figured out how to help Zen because her status keeps her quite removed from him. If anything, Obi plays a huge role in unknotting the Fort Laxdo tension that’s been nagging Shirayuki’s mind. When he’s not swinging from trees or lurking on balconies, he’s a pretty genuine and loyal person. He becomes a much needed and refreshing perspective (for the audience) between Shirayuki and Zen.

Episode nine of overall quite scattered. I’d appreciate more Zen and Shirayuki scenes versus Shirayuki and Obi scenes. The alcohol would have been a healthy dose of blunt honesty for Shirayuki since she would never directly tell Zen her worries… at least Obi updated Zen on Shirayuki in retrospect. Zen then officially employs Obi as his messenger.

Sidenote: I’d love to see some Mitsuhide x Kiki shots. They have quite opposite personalities and they would make such a great love-hate bickering couple.